


Shortest Way Home

by soo



Category: Quantum Leap
Genre: M/M, Yuletide, challenge:Yuletide 2005
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-12-25
Updated: 2005-12-25
Packaged: 2017-10-16 22:13:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,166
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/169900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/soo/pseuds/soo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The longest way round is the shortest way home. --Italian proverb</p>
            </blockquote>





	Shortest Way Home

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Propaganda (scriptory)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/scriptory/gifts).



"Beth, Al is alive. He's coming home."

Sam watched as the resolve formed in Beth's eyes. He sighed in relief. Maybe now Al could be happy. He reached out to comfort her and he leaped.

Sam blinked up into the bright noon sun. His eyes slowly focused and he groaned. He was standing in front of Al's Place. Could this be purgatory? A place for him to rest after each leap? And if it was, why was this the first time that he remembered it?

He pushed open the door to the bar and nodded in greeting to the patrons as he passed them. Sliding onto the barstool, he calmly waited for Al to join him. He needed answers and Al was the only one that could give them to him. Al might not be God but he knew more than he let on and Sam was determined to find out what he knew.

"I didn't expect to see you again," Al said as he wiped down the bar. "What can I get you?"

Sam forged ahead with his questions. He didn't want to play around like they had last time. "Is this purgatory?"

Al laughed heartily. "This place? It's what you make of it. You created it."

Sam looked around skeptically. How could he have created this? Why would he create a bar from the fifties, populate it with people from his past leaps and his life? He started when Al answered his questions. He hadn't realized that he'd voiced them.

"Everyone creates their own reality in one way or another. You just have the added advantage of leaping through time."

"Creating your own reality is one thing. This --" He gestured around the bar. "Is something else entirely."

"Is it?" Al leaned closer to Sam. "But that isn't why you're still leaping. There is one more thing you need to learn and you're not going to learn it here. You can change too much here."

Sam frowned and felt his body pulse as he leapt.

His eyes flew open when he rolled over and into another body. He blinked his eyes several times as they adjusted to the muted early morning light. He was in a king sized bed that dominated a fairly large bedroom. Shifting up, he looked down at his companion. He was in bed with a man. A man that looked much too young and fit to have a head full of grey hair.

Sam looked down at himself and his eyes widened. He was naked in bed with another man. "Oh boy."

The other man moaned and reached towards Sam.

Sam backed up and fell out of bed. "I'll...be right back."

He stumbled across the room and into the bathroom. He glanced into the mirror. So this is what he looked like. He wasn't sure what he'd expected but it wasn't the man staring him back in the mirror. He was older than the man he'd been sharing a bed with -- probably a good ten years older -- and he looked softer, rounder. The grey in his hair was well deserved.

Turning on the water, he splashed some water onto his face. He wondered how long he would have to wait before Al showed up. As he toweled off, it hit him. Al might not be coming to help him out. He had met Al at the Starbright Project where he had been drunk as a skunk and just moments away from being washed out of the Navy. It had only been some fancy footwork on his part that had kept Al in the Navy and on the project.

The root of Al's problems all lead back to Beth and the years that he'd been missing in action. If you take away Beth leaving him for another man, would Al have been assigned to Starbright? Would there even been a Project Quantum Leap? Al had been a big part of the project from the conception to the present. Heck, he wasn't even sure if he could've gotten as far as he did without Al. Weren't paradoxes made of situations like these?

That was why one of the rules was not to change things in their own history. Of course, he had changed his own history and by extension Al's when he had saved Tom but it hadn't affected the course of the project. Changing Al's life certainly would affect the project.

He yawned. He could turn this over and over again in his mind but it wouldn't do him any good. He would just have to wait and see if Al showed up. In the meantime, he could get some sleep. He exited the bathroom, crossed the bedroom and slid into bed. Closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep.

 _He curled into his lover, inhaling the unmistakable scent of his cologne and cigars mixed together. Lightly, he trailed his fingers down the center of the other man's chest just barely grazing one nipple then the other. He explored the body that had become nearly as familiar as his own, more familiar in some respects. Taking his time, he began the slow process of waking --_

The whoosh of the chamber door startled him awake and he sat up in bed. He glanced down at his partner to make sure he was still sleeping. He was.

"Al! Oh, Al, it's good to see you." Sam swung his feet off the bed and paused. Al hadn't responded. In fact, Al hadn't moved since the door had opened and he was staring at him. "Al?"

Frowning, Sam stood up and walked toward Al. "Al, are you all right? Al?"

Al tore his eyes away and looked down at the handlink. "Maybe you should put some clothes on Sam. I'll be in the kitchen waiting for you." He punched a few keys into the handlink and disappeared.

Sam reddened and quickly searched the floor. After a few moments, he spotted a pair of shorts and t-shirt that would fit him. He pulled them on. He padded out to the kitchen. This wasn't the most embarrassing situation that Al had found him in but it was up there, he was sure of that.

He paused. Actually this was more than embarrassing. The situation went against everything Al believed in. At least that was the impression that he had from some Swiss-cheesed memories.

He could only hope that Al could get past his homophobia and help him help these two men. Sam continued down the hall to the kitchen. He didn't have a clue as to what wrong needed to be righted and he needed guidance.

Entering the small kitchen, he took a quick look around. It was a bright room that had a lot of gadgets that looked like they'd been well used. He pulled out a barstool and sat down at the kitchen counter. "I didn't know if you would come."

"Why wouldn't I?"

Sam frowned. "Didn't Beth wait for you?"

A pained expression crossed Al's face. "She did."

He paused at Al's expression. He would've thought that Al would've been happy to finally have Beth back with him even if it meant that he only got to experience some of it through memories. If Beth and Al had gotten back together, had how they met changed? "How did we meet?"

"I was still assigned to Starbright," Al said tersely.

Sam's eyes narrowed. Had something else gone wrong between when he convinced Beth to wait for Al and the present? He took in Al's stance. Al was obviously not in the mood to discuss how things had changed. "So why am I here?"

"Ziggy doesn't know."

"She must know something!"

Al punched at the handlink. "Nothing." He jabbed at it again. "Nothing above five percent that is."

"Five percent!" Sam rocked back on the barstool. He couldn't believe it. Ziggy had never come up with a percentage that low. At least he didn't think Ziggy had. "Tell me about them." Sam got up and started to pace. "Maybe we can think of something."

"It seems Kevin and Andrew lead an idyllic life. Kevin," Al indicated Sam, "is a writer on the verge of making it big. In fact his most recent novel was released yesterday to rave reviews."

"And Andrew?"

"He's a political science professor at the local university, received tenure at the tender age of thirty, popular with his stud," Al paused and shook the handlink, "students and colleagues."

Sam paused in his pacing. "What about the future?"

"There isn't much to go on."

"I thought you said they were leading an idyllic life."

"They are. There isn't much of a future because we're very close to the present."

"What year is it?"

"1999."

"Kev," Andrew called out.

Sam eyes widened. "Out here," he called out. Had it really been five years? He mouthed the question to Al.

"Almost." Al looked down at the handlink. "Four years, ten months, and twenty five days. Ziggy has it down the minutes and seconds if you want."

Andrew stumbled out of the bedroom, rubbing his eyes. "You're up early." He wrapped his arms around Sam, nuzzled and gently pressed kisses into Sam's neck.

"I, uh, was going to make breakfast."

"Were you going to make me breakfast in bed? Because I can go back to bed." Andrew slid around to the front of Sam. He leaned up into Sam and resumed kissing his neck. "Or maybe we both should go back to bed," Andrew whispered into his ear. Hands skittered down his chest, slid underneath the waistband of his shorts, and stroked Sam's cock.

"Maybe I should just go, Sam."

Sam jerked back in surprise. "No!" He looked imploringly at Al. He needed help and fast.

Andrew pouted. "No?"

"Uh, I'm hungry."

"I'm hungry too." Andrew pressed into him, leaving no doubt in Sam's mind what Andrew was hungry for. "I have something that could fill you up." He rubbed suggestively against Sam.

Sam gulped as he felt his body respond. "Uh, don't you have uh..."

"He has office hours this morning," Al provided while trying to look interested in the magnetic poetry decorating the refrigerator.

Sam tried to detach himself from Andrew but was unsuccessful. For someone so slight, he certainly knew how to hold onto someone much bigger. "Don't you have office hours today?"

"I think I can miss one day of office hours." Andrew punctuated each word with a nibble along Sam's collar. "It's not every day you get reviewed in the New York Times."

"Oh, uhm." He shifted slightly to look over at Al, willing him to come up with some way to get him out of this situation.

Al tapped the handlink. "Kevin has a phone interview with NPR in a hour."

Crossing his fingers, Sam tried again. "I have an interview in a hour."

"A quickie?"

"I'm, uh, still hungry."

"Oh, all right." Andrew loosened his grip on Sam but didn't completely disengage. "But only if you make me one of your famous omelets."

Sighing in relief, Sam pushed away slightly. "That can be arranged. In fact, you can help."

Andrew's brow wrinkled. "Are you all right?"

"Of course. Why do you ask?"

"Ever since I started a fire making toast you haven't let me near the stove let alone let me cook anything."

Sam laughed. "I think with a little supervision you'll be safe."

"I think I'll just go and light a fire under Ziggy."

Sam blinked as Al stepped through the imaging chamber door. Had he done something to offend Al? His leaving had felt a little abrupt and his tone had bordered on anger. No, not anger, jealousy. He shook his head, puzzled. He didn't know why Al would be jealous. He must've heard it wrong.

"Kevin?"

Sam smiled at Andrew. "Let's see what we have to put in those omelets." He opened the refrigerator and began pulling out ingredients that struck his fancy. It took a few minutes of dancing around each other but they settled into a rhythm of chopping, dicing, and cooking the omelets. Andrew was handy in the kitchen and he wondered how he had caused a fire making toast. Soon, they were sitting down to eat at the kitchen counter.

He knew he should be listening to what Andrew was talking about but he just couldn't get the conversation with Al out of his head. Something had happened between him and Beth. It hadn't worked out perfectly. But what could've gone wrong? Beth had been the love of Al's life and he couldn't imagine them not working it out.

A memory niggled at the back of his head just out of reach. He closed his eyes and concentrated harder.

 _Sam yawned and stretched his arms up over his head. He glanced at the clock and was shocked to see that it was three-thirty in the morning. They'd been working on the calculations for hours. It always amazed how time flew when they were knee deep in calculations, bouncing ideas off each other. He hadn't experienced this kind of gratification since he started college. "Maybe it's time to go. It's after three."_

 _"We're on a roll here. We can't stop now," Al said as he passed the set of equations he'd been working on to Sam._

 _Sam quickly did the math in his head. It looked perfect. If they just adjusted the velocity, they might be onto something. He picked up a pencil and jotted down a few notes to that affect. "Won't Beth be waiting up for you?"_

 _"This late?" Al reclined in his chair. "She and the girls have been in bed for hours."_

 _"This won't cause a problem will it?"_

 _Al paused to consider before replying. "No, she knows how important this is."_

 _Sam smiled. "Good because I have this idea..."_

"Kevin?"

Sam opened his eyes and turned to Andrew. He saw the concern in the other man's eyes and silently cursed. He needed to focus on this leap and not on what had happened in the past. "Sorry, what were you saying?"

"I said I was going to go in for my office hours. Should I pick something up for dinner on the way home?"

"Sure, whatever you think is best."

"Hey, the interview will go fine. You have nothing to worry about. You'll knock them dead." Andrew stroked his face and leaned in for a gentle kiss. "I'll be listening."

Sam nodded. He watched as Andrew turned and walked back to their bedroom. Kevin was a very lucky man to have someone who was so obviously in love with him in his life. He picked up their dishes and stowed them in the dishwasher. Wiping his hands on a dishtowel, he wondered when Al was going to come back. He was going to need help with the interview, he didn't even know the title of the book let alone what it was about.

Wandering down the hall, he passed the bathroom where he heard Andrew sing off key in the shower, and paused at the next door. He opened it and peeked in. It was small room that had been turned into an office. Stepping inside, he got a better look. Two desks facing each other dominated the room and the walls were covered with books from floor to ceiling. He ran his finger along the spines of the books closest to him. They seemed to be all political science books. He moved forward and stopped at the first desk. A stack of term papers were strewn across it, and he rummaged through them. Maybe he was here to help one of Andrew's students.

The sound of the imaging chamber door opening startled him and he turned towards it. "Al! Have you found anything out?"

Al shook his head. "The numbers are still below five percent." He chomped down on his cigar and peered over Sam's shoulder. "We even checked out Andrew's students except for an unfortunate accident nothing out of the ordinary."

"Accident?"

Al nodded. "One of the students," he glanced down at the handlink, "Jason Stewart, is in a car accident three months from now. His car skids off the road during a snow storm."

"There must be some reason I'm here. I wouldn't leap here if there weren't something that I could change." Sam paused. What had Al the bartender said? That he could change too much at the bar and he wouldn't be able to learn the last lesson he needed to learn. "Maybe that's the point."  
"What? How could that be the point?"

"Al the bartender said I needed to learn one more lesson and that I couldn't learn it at the bar because there were too many things that I could change there." Sam paced around the room. "So maybe what I need to learn is that I can't always change things."

"Then how are you supposed to leap?"

Sam dropped into the desk chair, He hadn't thought of that. God or whoever was in charge always had him leap after he had changed things for the better. If there was nothing to change, why hadn't he leaped yet? Shouldn't he have leaped just by virtue of realizing that he didn't have change anything? Unless he really had been leaping himself. "I leap myself?"

Bright blue light enveloped him and he leaped.

Sam blinked as he took in his surroundings. The waiting room. He was home. Memories flooded to the surface but one was more prominent then all the rest.

 _Sam's hand hovered the power button. "On the count of three."_

 _"For chrissakes, just do it already. Turn the damn thing on."_

 _Sam grinned and flipped the switch._

 _The computer booted up, pages of text scrolled across the screen, and distinctly female voice said, "Good evening, Doctor Beckett and Admiral Calavicci."_

 _Sam threw his arms around Al and hugged him tight. "We did it."_

 _"Did you have any doubts? Nothing can beat the team of Beckett and Calavicci. "_

 _"No, nothing can." Sam looked into Al's eyes. He could see the excitement and desire in them. At least he hoped it was desire. He leaned down and kissed Al. The kiss was awkward at first but soon became heated. Pulling Al closer to him, he deepened the kiss._

 _Ziggy cleared her throat. "Excuse me, I'm still here."_

Sam shook his head at the memory, he really needed to see Al. "Ziggy?"

"Welcome home, Doctor Beckett."

"Thank you, Ziggy. Can you unlock the door of the waiting room?"

"Of course! Should I round up everyone and have them meet you in the Control Room?"

Sam paused as he stepped through the door. He didn't really feel like a party but he should at least greet everyone who had been working so hard to get him back. "Go ahead." He continued down the hallway, not exactly walking but not running either.

The door to the Control Room was open and he entered. He made a beeline to Al and enveloped the other man in his arms. For the first time in five years, he was holding his best friend, his partner, his lover. He breathed in deeply the scent of Al, his cologne mixed with Cuban cigars. All he wanted to do was kiss Al and make up for lost time. However, the sound of clapping and cheers reminded him that they had an audience.

He pulled away from Al slowly. "God, I missed this. I missed us."

Al nodded solemnly. "Me too."

Sam stepped back and looked around the Control Room. Tina and Gushie were there as well as two other women he didn't recognize. He stared at the two women and his mind filled in the blanks for him, the blonde was Al's oldest daughter, Rachel and the redhead, was Sammie Jo Fuller, his daughter. Walking over, he embraced them and accepted their congratulations.

He knew he should say more but he was constantly aware of the man walking beside him. All he could think about was the deep desire to touch Al, he'd been denied such a basic comfort for so long. He made his excuses and dragged Al towards the door. "Take me home."

"Gladly," Al punched the up elevator button.

Sam's eyebrow rose. "We live at the project?"

"I moved us here after you leaped. It seemed like a good idea since I never knew when I would be needed here."

The elevator chimed and they stepped into it. Sam stepped into Al's personal space, reached out and ran his hand up Al's arm. "I can't believe this is real. I can't believe I'm touching you again after all this time."

Al captured his roving hand and pulled him closer. Sam gasped as their bodies brushed and he leaned down to kiss Al. It was electric and they fell back into the elevator door. The kiss deepened, hands were let go so that they could be free to wander and wander they did. Sam yanked Al's dress shirt out of his pants, his hands glided up underneath it and his fingers carded through the wiry hair searching out tender and ticklish spots. He hissed as Al raked his fingers along his spine.

The elevator door opened and they stumbled backwards. Al caught him and soon they were back to kissing and caressing each other. Blindly Sam followed Al down the hallway, through a living room and into a bedroom. The back of his knees hit something solid and then he was down on a bed with Al close behind him. Winded he broke the kiss, and stared up into Al's eyes. The love and desire in them was breathtaking. "Oh, God, Al," he whispered.

"Sammy," Al groaned and pulled Sam's shirt up and off him. He bent his head and sucked in a nipple.

Sam arched into the caress. He knew that if they kept this up that it would be over way too soon but then they had a lot of time, didn't they? His fingers scrambled up to Al's collar and began to unbutton his shirt furiously. He pushed the purple silk off Al's shoulders and with a bit of a struggle he got it all the way off. Skin against skin contact sent a shiver through him and short work was made of the suit pants and briefs. He grasped Al's cock and gave it a quick stroke. "I want you to fuck me."

Al's head jerked up from where he'd been exploring Sam's stomach. "I...yes." He reached over to the bed stand, yanked open the drawer and grabbed lube. Dropping the lube on the bed, he helped Sam shimmy out of his clothes. He snapped open the lube and applied it liberally to his fingers and cock. Carefully, he inserted a finger and began to stretch Sam. He moved slowly in and out, scissoring, and making sure to brush against Sam's prostate.

"Now, Al." Sam bit his lip as Al's fingers were removed and then his cock entered him. Slowly, he let out the breath he was holding as he began to adjust. He wrapped himself tighter around Al, encouraging him to go faster. Sam groaned as Al did so. He reached down and stroked his cock -- three, four strokes and he came. Shuddering, his eyes rolled back in his head but not before he saw the look of bliss pass over Al's face.

Sam drifted back to reality to see Al wiping him clean. He pulled Al down into his arms. He still couldn't believe that he was home - that he was with Al again. He wondered how different the timeline was now. "We weren't involved in all the timelines were we?"

Al shook his head. "Not like this." He traced a light pattern on Sam's chest. "We were always best friends and partners though."

Sam sighed. It didn't answer all his questions but then they would be up all night if he asked them all. There were two though that he needed an answer for now. "Are you okay with this?"

Al looked up at him like he was nuts. "I wouldn't be here if I wasn't."

He grinned faintly, typical Al, you never could push him into doing something he didn't want to do. He paused and tried to think of a good way to ask the other question but couldn't come up with one, so he asked bluntly. "What happened with Beth?"

Al's hands stilled and he replied softly. "We began to drift apart when I began to put in long hours at Starbright."

Sam closed his eyes. Al's explanation did jive with what he remembered. The problem was that he didn't know what was in the original timeline and what was in the current timeline anymore. The only thing he did know was that Al had always been a constant. "A lot of things are different aren't they?"

"Yes, but we have all the time in the world to discover them."

  



End file.
